


Finding Peace- a Wings of Fire fanfiction

by orphan_account



Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: F/M, I know they're hybrids- if you don't like it don't read it, My First Fanfic, between two of my OCs, it's romance, not that hard to understand, some small violence- one chapter of it and not well described
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 17:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 9,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16560284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: This story is a Wings of Fire fanfiction about my OCs Frost and Stormrider. Most characters will be OCs or minor canon characters.It is set several years before the end of the War of SandWing succession, the dragonets of destiny have hatched but they haven't escaped yet. (They're about one or two.)Stormrider is a NightWing/ SkyWing hybrid and a member of the Talons of Peace. Captured by Queen Scarlet, he was resigned to his fate of becoming dead and stuffed in Princess Burn's weirdling collection when he was unexpectedly rescued by an IceWing, who's motives are obscure, if non-existent.This is his story.Copy- Pasted off my Wattpad.





	1. Chapter 1

Storm

Stormrider folded his wings close to his body and dived.  
Ahead of him a glistening white IceWing shot down the narrow ravine and twisted sharply round a corner. Storm flared his wings open, and caught the strong wind whistling between the mountains. The entire width of his night-dark wings filled with air and he was blown forwards to join the IceWing. She was flying hard and fast, and obviously pushing herself to the limit.  
Glancing over his shoulder, Stormrider watched as the three red SkyWing guards struggled to fly through the narrow channel, their wide wings a disadvantage to them. He had practiced flying in close conditions, and knew how to do it, but the guards were used to overtaking others by speed alone.

The IceWing zigzagged through the maze of rock and air, and Stormrider followed close on her tail. Suddenly, she turned sharply and shot into a mountain.  
Storm whirled after her, to find that she had entered a small crack hidden under an overhang. He swooped down and landed beside her.

The white dragon yanked him backwards and clamped her talons around his mouth.

Five seconds later, the SkyWing guards shot straight past them.

The IceWing released him and shook out her wings. "They'll be back," she said. "If we don't want to get caught, we need to move."  
"Where do you think we should go, Frost?" asked Stormrider. "I'd like to return to the Talons of Peace, but I don't know where their current camp is."  
"Whyever not? They never seem to get anything done, so I doubt they'd ever get round to moving camp. If you could find them that would be good, because you could go back to them and I could return to Queen Glacier. You are the only thing keeping me here," replied Frost.  
"Well, it's nice to be needed," joked Stormrider, and was met by a withering glare from Frost.  
"Joking! I was joking!" Storm flung his wings up in defence and backed away from the seething IceWing. "We could try the Diamond Spray Delta, they normally camp by the sea."  
"Finally, something useful," said Frost. "We can start at the coast closest to here, and work southwards, with any luck we'll find them in a few weeks."  
"I thought you had to return to Queen Glacier?" asked Storm.  
Frost shook her head. "I have months to complete my assignment. Her Majesty knows that sometimes unexpected complications turn up and that that takes time to resolve." She paused, then walked to the edge of the ledge. "The assignment is completed, so I can take my time getting back. In the worst case scenario, all that will happen is that some of my free time will be reduced." Turning round, she continued, "Stormrider, we need to get going."

As he launched into the air after Frost, Storm couldn't help but ask, "Frost, what is your job?"  
Frost sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "I am Her Majesty's champion," she replied softly. "I am also the royal IceWing assassin. Before you ask, my assignment was to cause the death of a particularly skilled SkyWing general, who is now dead."


	2. Fish- your new favourite food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's another chapter

Frost

They had been searching for several days now, and there was still no sign of the Talons. Maybe, she mused, it was a good thing that they were so hard to find, because if she couldn't, then neither could any of the queens.

Stormrider had been silent for a few minutes after she had told him who she was, but he had seemed to get over the shock. After that, he had been full of questions, everything from "Do you like your job?" (No. ) To "In the SkyWing kingdom, did you meet a SkyWing named Petrel?" (I don't go round meeting people unless they know where my target is). Frost was strangely pleased that he didn't say anything about how she should quit, and how it was wrong to kill other dragons. She knew that, but the only way for a hybrid to survive in the Ice Kingdom was to become absolutely indispensable.

It had been hard to become as skilled an assassin as she was, but it was worth it. She had a solid job with a steady pay rate and ample free time, even if the work was unpleasant.

Shaking her mind free from her pointless thought track, Frost flew towards the next potential site, which was a beach on the borders of the SkyWing kingdom. Behind her, Stormrider flew noisily. She felt a stab of mild irritation as she listened to his wingbeats. Honestly, that dragon had no concept of stealth. No wonder he had been captured. If she hadn't come along, he would be stuffed and dead in Burn's weirdling collection. She still didn't entirely know why she freed him. Maybe it was because even although it would mean the end of her line of work, she desperately wanted the war to end, and the Talons of Peace, despite their inefficiencies, seemed to be the only group that was trying to make that happen. One more Talon, even a noisy flyer, could help end the war.

"Nearly there!" she called to Stormrider.   
"I don't think they'll be here," he replied. "I never even knew there was a beach here. It's a bit in the middle of nowhere."   
"I thought that the middle of nowhere is where the Talons camp? If they don't know about this beach, then they are missing out," said Frost.   
"I'll tell them about it when we find them," promised Stormrider. "How do you know about the beach?" he asked, moving forward to fly alongside her.   
"I have rested there in the past when recovering from missions. Talons or not, we will sleep there tonight. It's not exactly the most findable location," she replied.

A quick survey of their surroundings showed that they had arrived. "Behind that ridge," she told Stormrider.   
"No offence, but that's a cliff edge," he said, confused.   
Frost sighed, and dove over the side.

Below her, a pristine white beach stretched out for half a mile, bordered by steep cliffs and the foaming sea. Seagulls whirled through the salt-laden air, and Frost knew that the waters were teeming with fish.

Stormrider's eyes opened wide in wonder and his jaw dropped. "Close your mouth, you look like a fish," said Frost.   
"This place is amazing!" cried Stormrider. "Are those caves in the cliff?"  
"Yes, they're caves. No need to be particularly exited, I've slept in much larger," replied Frost. "Those ones are small and cramped with stalagmites everywhere, with the extra added bonus of either being covered in seagull poo or smelling of fish."

She dove towards the best of them, and ducked inside. "If the Talons decide to move here, the first thing they're going to have to do is kill half the seagulls," she continued. "Some of the SeaWings would probably eat them, I guess, though I tend to stay away from those brainless bundles of feathers,"  
"I quite like seagull," commented Stormrider.   
Frost shuddered, and landed in the cave she had been heading for. "Well, they're all yours. I'm going to catch some fish."

As Stormrider landed beside her, she took off again and dove into the sea.

The water parted before her as she dove in. In the sea, everything was muted, and she could take some time to relax while she hunted. The water thrummed against her ears as she shot deeper. Spotting a large fish, she twisted towards it with expert wingbeats, and soon it was in her claws. Feeling her lungs constrict, she shot up for air, envying the SeaWings their ability to breathe underwater, not for the first time, as she often wished she could go deeper.

Frost shot out of the water at full speed and landed expertly on the beach. Dumping the fish on a rock, she sprinted back into the embrace of the water, relishing its coolness against her scales. She had always felt unsuited to the blasting cold of the Ice Kingdom, but upon journeying to the Sand Kingdom, she had soon discovered that while she didn't die on entry like most IceWings, the prolonged heat sapped her energy and made her uncomfortable and prickly. The ocean had always felt soothing, except in the Ice Kingdom where it was the only thing worse than a snowstorm.

Several trips later, Frost had a substantial pile of fish, which she ate while watching Stormrider's lamentable attempts to catch a seagull. "How are you still alive?" she called over. "Who's the unfortunate soul that has to catch food for you every day?"  
"I can hunt!" he replied indignantly. "I've just never caught a seagull before. Normally I just get a deer or a goat, and sometimes I'd buy something like lizard or seagull from the market in the Scorpion Den,"   
Frost sighed, and pushed some of her fish towards him. "Have some fish," she said. "You need energy for tomorrow."  
Stormrider approached nervously. "Um, I haven't actually tried fish before, so I don't know..."   
"Eat it," sighed Frost. "You'll regret it if you don't. There's a salmon in that pile. If you don't want that, I'd be more than happy to take it out of your talons,"  
"They've got eyes and everything!" he complained.   
"So does a goat," Frost answered bluntly.   
"Raw as well!"  
"What do you expect me to do, breathe fire? I'm an IceWing!"  
Stormrider shuffled round to peer at it from a different angle. "It stinks as well,"he observed.   
"Hold your breath," advised Frost. "Or cook it. You're a SkyWing/ NightWing hybrid aren't you? You should be able to breathe fire," Frost brutally decapitated a mackerel and ate the head before waving it in Stormrider's direction. "Tell you what, if you eat half the pile I'll catch you a seagull."  
Stormrider gingerly took the mackerel and set it down on a rock before roasting it with fire. The heat blasted Frost's scales and she moved back towards the sea. Her IceWing tendencies made her fear fire, and her other parent's genetics didn't help either. "Now try it," she commanded. Stormrider nibbled off a tiny portion before nervously tasting. "Not bad... I think I prefer goat though," he finally said.   
"Well, eat up then," replied Frost, taking the last fish from her pile, and looking at admiringly.   
Stormrider followed her gaze, and saw the massive tuna she was holding. "Is that a shark? How did you catch it?" he asked.   
"Same way you catch a goat, just underwater," she replied, before leisurely slicing it to pieces. "And no, it's not a shark. If it were, then I'd have injuries. They're not worth the effort, unless you have to feed a lot of dragons."

The rest of the meal passed in silence, until Stormrider finished his fish. By then, Frost had long finished, and was slowly swimming in the sea.   
The sun was setting, and the water was stained red by its light. It reflected off Frost's scales, tinting them a soft pink.   
Now I look like a SkyWing, she thought before diving under, and heading back to shore.


	3. Frost is not half SeaWing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Behold- a chapter

Stormrider

Stormrider woke up and stretched his wings, which failed spectacularly when one hit a stalactite and the other hit a cave wall.

He refolded his wings and opened his eyes. Outside the cave, Frost was staring at something in the sand. Standing up, he walked over and sat down beside her. For his pains, he was immediately elbowed in the chest.   
"Get off the SeaWing Kingdom!" she yelled. Looking down, Storm saw that Frost had drawn a map of Pyrrhia in the sand, and that he had trodden on the SeaWing islands.   
"What are you doing?" he asked.  
"Planning today's flight. We've covered all the costal areas of the SkyWing territory, so I wanted to recalculate as we're now approaching the MudWings, and I don't know that territory as well," replied Frost.   
"As I've said, the Diamond Spray Delta is probably where they are. I think we should go there," said Storm.  
"That's unsystematic. What if we fly right over them because we're too busy trying to get to the delta? Besides, it's huge. Without a system, we'll just be flying in circles for a week and then get attacked by MudWings. I did that once and I do not recommend the experience."   
Frost was evidently not going to listen to his advice, so Stormrider didn't argue further. "What's for breakfast?" he asked.  
"Whatever you can catch."  
"Yesterday should have proved that I can't catch birds. I can't swim either, every time I've tried my wings always drag me down, so that rules out catching fish," answered Storm.  
Frost looked up. "If you want me to catch you something, just ask. I think I owe you a seagull anyway."  
"Thank you!" he replied.  
"You're hunting the next two meals though."  
Stormrider winced. "I knew there'd be a catch."  
"You have my sympathies" said Frost, looking towards the ocean.  
"For what?"  
"You can't swim. It's one of my favorite activities, and you are missing out," explained Frost.  
"Are you half SeaWing?" Storm asked jokingly. "I'm sure IceWings don't swim."  
Frost swung her head back to face him. "No, I'm half RainWing."  
"I can't actually tell whether you're serious or just sarcastic."  
"Oh, I'm perfectly serious, my father was a RainWing but my mother was an IceWing so I grew up in the Ice Kingdom with her," explained Frost.  
"I did not expect that."  
"I don't think anyone would."  
"I mean, an assassin that's half RainWing?" said Storm with a frown. "I thought they're supposed to be really lazy?"  
"Well, this half RainWing assassin is also half IceWing, and they're probably the least lazy tribe in Pyrrhia so there's that as well," answered Frost. "We've got Talons to find. Let's go."

Frost leapt into the air, and after a few confused seconds, Stormrider followed. "What about breakfast?" he asked. In reply, Frost snatched a seagull out of the air and threw it at him, barely missing his face.  
"If you want it cooked, you're going to have to do it while flying," she said, while he fumbled for the bird. "The time we used with that illuminating conversation about my ancestry was the time in which we were supposed to have breakfast."  
"Ah."

After some awkward experimentation, Storm managed to cook the seagull without falling out of the air, and eat it without crashing into a mountain.

As they flew, Stormrider considered what Frost had just told him. At first glance, she seemed pure IceWing, but now that he looked, he could see her RainWing traits. She had fewer spines on her neck than most IceWings, and the ones she had were shorter. The claws at the end of her wings were slightly curved, as were her horns. Overall, she was smaller than a typical IceWing, and less, well, spiky. The least IceWing thing about her, however, was her tail. It looked as strong as a RainWing's prehensile tail, but as it narrowed down to an IceWing thin end, it switched from muscle and scale to a long, razor-sharp bone spike. Which, when Storm thought about it, could very possibly be how she killed her.... victims.   
It unnerved him slightly that he was willingly traveling with what was undoubtedly an experienced killer, but he hoped she had her reasons.

They flew for several hours before they reached the edge of the Diamond Spray Delta. "Well, here we are. The delta. So, the question is, where are the Talons of Peace?" said Frost.  
Stormrider looked around, vainly trying to catch sight of any of the Talons, but all he could see was swamp, swamp, and more swamp. "I can't see them," he replied  
Frost sighed and shook her head. "I didn't expect you to be able to," she said irritably. "It was a more metaphorical 'you said they'd be here but I don't think they are so now I'm going to spitefully make you search for them in what is going to be a futile and time consuming quest' type of question,"  
"So, what do I do now?"  
"Get on with it! I'm not your boss!"


	4. Frost is slightly less mean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! A chapter!

Stormrider

He searched for two days. As Frost had predicted, there was no sign of the Talons in the Diamond Spray Delta. Currently, as Frost felt she had made her point, they were flying south, this time further inland. "We can stop at Jade Mountain in a few days, the caves there are excellent," she said.   
"But in the meantime?" asked Stormrider   
"We're sleeping on the ground."  
"Fun."  
"I know."  
"You know, some of the Talons were talking about a dragon in Jade Mountain," said Storm pensively.   
"A dragon? In Jade Mountain?" replied Frost  
"Yes. Some old NightWing. He might be able to help us," explained Storm.   
"I've never heard about him," Frost said sceptically.   
"Well, as you said a couple of days earlier, you don't go round talking to other dragons, whereas I think I must've met everyone in the Talons at least once,"  
"True enough."  
They flew in silence for several minutes longer.   
"So, erm, Frost, excuse me for asking, but why are you an assassin?" asked Stormrider nervously. It was a topic that he had wondered about, but Frost seemed in a good mood, so he hoped she wouldn't mind him asking.   
Frost waited several seconds before replying. "My mother knew that I was a hybrid, so when I was younger she hid me from the other IceWings as much as she could. Of course, with the rankings, that was difficult, but she taught me how to control my emotions so that my wings would stay white-"  
"Wait- your wings change colour?" interrupted Storm.   
In reply, Frost's wing membranes slowly changed from white to an icy blue with small curling ribbons of grey.   
"She taught me to control my emotions so my wings would stay white," continued Frost, "and told me to keep the end of my tail out of sight. It worked, and everyone thought that I was just unusually small. I also made sure that I was never noticeably high or low on the rankings, even though I could have done much better. Mother was the only one who knew, and she protected me as well as she could, but then she was sent off to war, and I couldn't hide behind her anymore. By then, I was old enough to know that if anyone found out, I and my mother would probably be executed, imprisoned, or banished. Hybrids aren't exactly encouraged. It was only a matter of time before someone found out, and I couldn't rely on them to be sympathetic, because hardly anyone would be. There had to be another reason for me to stay alive. My mother is fighting in the war, and they need every soldier they can get, so she would probably escape with demotion, but I would be lucky to survive. My solution was assassination. If I became a soldier, then I would still be disposable to a certain extent, but as an assassin, I would be invaluable. It was also about that time that I realised that this thing-" she said, flicking her tail. "Was actually an excellent natural weapon, and that if I stabbed someone through the heart with it, that would probably be fatal. When I was inevitably exposed, which took longer than I expected, I was Her Majesty's top assassin, as I killed most of the competition. I acted loyal enough that the queen didn't consider me a threat, and once I told her that I was half RainWing, that sealed my status of alive. After all, if I suddenly decided that I felt I had more in common with my father, I would hardly be joining the enemy. If I was half SkyWing or half SeaWing, and looked like it, I think I wouldn't have been able to do what I did."  
Silence descended again as Frost finished. There really wasn't much that Storm could say.   
"So, what about you?" asked Frost  
"What?"  
"How did you make it to adulthood without Queen Scarlet giving you a taste of brutal dismemberment?"  
"Oh! Right! That. Well, like your mum, my mum also knew that I was a hybrid (I mean, like, how could she not), so she waited for an opportunity then fled the Sky Kingdom and joined the Talons of Peace. I hatched in their camp, and that was kind of that, except that my mum then went back to the Sky Kingdom because although she doesn't approve of Queen Scarlet's view on hybrids, she still supports her. So, less tragic than yours, but I don't really have memories of my mum," concluded Stormrider.  
"So you've lived with the Talons your entire life? What was that like?" Frost inquired  
"Well, everyone took care of me. Nautilus, he's the leader, made sure I got enough food, and I just followed everyone else. I had plenty of friends, because I was the only one who didn't need parental permission to do anything exiting," Storm said. "I missed a mum, but I was as happy as it was possible for me to be."  
"I guess, as a hybrid, I'm lucky to know one of my parents, and the name of the other," said Frost thoughtfully.  
"What are your parents' names?" asked Storm  
"Adelie is my mother, and my father's name is Cranberry. Yours?"  
"I don't know my father's name, but my mother is Petrel."  
Frost nodded, and they flew further on.

At that point, they were in the heart of MudWing territory, so at Frost's signal, she and Stormrider lifted higher into the air and behind some clouds.

Below, six brown specks left the earth and swept after them.


	5. Dragonfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Copied off Wattpad, It's my Wattpad so don't worry.  
> The chapter title usually says it all.

Stormrider

Storm swept higher in the air. Glancing behind him, he saw that the MudWings were still following them. They had hoped to lose them in cloud cover, but they hadn't had any luck with that. "We're going to have to face them at some point, Frost," he called. "I'd say sooner rather than later,"   
"You may be right," she replied. "I hate fighting MudWings." She sighed, before continuing, "Well, let's get this over and done with."

Frost and Stormrider turned and dove towards the group of MudWings. There were five of them, led by a MudWing that was twice Frost's size.

Frost

Frost hated fighting MudWings. They were larger than her, and stronger than her, and because of their sibling-focused lifestyle, they more often than not teamed up against her. She preferred one-on-one combat, or better still, a silent stab to the heart and a quick exit. Not battles. Battles weren't her style. She had trained in MudWing tactics, but that didn't really make anything much easier. Flexing her serrated talons, she dove towards their bigwings. Take out their leader, or at least knock him from the sky, and the rest would soon follow. They were flying low, so if she damaged his wing enough, he would probably survive.   
"Keep the others from interfering with me as best as you can, Stormrider," she said. "I can deal with one or two, but any more than that is stretching it."  
He nodded his agreement, and Frost tilted into a steep dive.

She slammed into their bigwings with her talons outstretched and all the force of her hundred- metre dive behind her. She brought her tail down on his wing, but he nimbly dodged the strike, and raked his talons down her neck. Twisting round behind him, she landed on his back, sunk her teeth into his neck, and made another strike at his wing. This one hit him, though not in the right place, and he began to stumble in his flight. A few more blows should do it, thought Frost, as she changed her grip on his neck, and readied her tail for another strike. The MudWing twisted round, attempting to throw her off, she dug her claws in, but her strike was thrown off balance, and she only clipped his shoulder. Time for another tactic.   
Frost reached down with her wings, and dug the claws on their tips in the join between his shoulders and wings. She began sawing with her wing claws, hoping to damage something important, while her opponent did a series of increasingly complicated acrobatics to try and shake her off. Frost winced in pain as fire from one of his sibs stung her tail. Luckily, the spike on the end was relatively fireproof, but she could still feel the heat of the flames. She continued sawing, and the MudWing began to fall steadily downwards. Get him to the ground, get him injured, and the others will stay to look after him. Then we can run. The bigwings made one last desperate move to throw her off, and Frost let go, being sure to dig her wing claws in especially deep and rake her talons down his wing membranes before opening her wings and heading up to help Stormrider.

Stormrider was flying circles round the other MudWings, and even occasionally managing to claw them. Frost shot up beside him. "Their bigwings is down," she told him. "They should notice anytime soon."   
Stormrider darted in to give one of the smaller MudWings a blow, while Frost intercepted the sib trying to help her. She raked her talons down his snout, and ducked to avoid his returning blow, coming up behind another of the MudWings, who she stabbed in her weak spot. Frost felt the rush of air above her and blindly rolled to one side, narrowly avoiding the force of the second largest sib who was trying to lead her away from his sister. Frost was not about to fall for a diversion, and quickly looped back to join Stormrider. That was when the MudWings noticed their bigwings. "Armadillo!" screamed the MudWing Stormrider was engaging, and she shot down to land beside her fallen leader. Three other MudWings followed her, and Frost watched them go.

Stormrider

The MudWings were diving down to land round their bigwings. Storm turned and grinned at Frost. "That was you?" he asked.  
"Who else?" she answered, smiling back. "Nice job distracting them," continued Frost. "I managed to get him down without killing him, so I don't think we'll have to worry about vengeful sibs after us. Let's fly before they realise we're still here."  
At her words, Stormrider turned and began flying away as fast as Frost could follow. He knew that he was much faster, but he didn't want to leave Frost in the dust.

Heather

The final MudWing flew after the fleeing IceWing. After the hybrid as well, but the IceWing was the one who had killed Armadillo. Armadillo was not supposed to die. Ever. The Ice dragon had done it, and she was going to pay. Heather was the fastest of her family, and while the others were weeping and crying, she was going to avenge. A limb for a limb. She was above them and closing fast, her wingbeats stilted to avoid noise. She had seen how the IceWing had dodged her brother's strike, and she wasn't going to make the same mistake.

There.   
Now.   
Heather dived, and struck the ice dragon with the full force of justice and fury. A searing pain in her back made her loosen her hold, but the damage was done. She was surprised that the white dragon hadn't screamed when Heather's talons had dug through her wing. Whatever-it-was had lessened the damage, and her medical training informed her that the wound would heal, but that dragon would not be flying anytime soon.  
Satisfied, she flew back to Armadillo.


	6. Another one bites the dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *hums*
> 
> Gosh, this was hard to write!

Frost

Falling, falling, falling.

The rush of air around her.

The pain.

Pain.

In her wing.

Her wing.

So much pain.

A voice.

Calling.

For her?

Stormrider

The ground.

Coming fast.

Danger.

Must.

React.

Frost straightened out her wings as best as she could. Pushing through the pain, she managed to turn her freefall into a wobbly glide. The ground rose to meet her, and it wasn't soft. She felt something give in one of her hind legs, and another burst of pain racketed her body. Stormrider landed beside her, and hurried over to help.   
"Frost! Are you alright?"  
"No!" she replied angrily. "I've just fallen out of the sky after being attacked by an insane MudWing and you think there's a possibility I'm alright?" Frost tried to move away from him, but her leg gave way and she fell onto the ground. She closed her eyes, and tried to muster enough energy to get up again. Nothing.  
"I need help," she admitted grudgingly. Opening her eyes, she spotted a smallish tree with sufficient foliage to hide her while she healed. "To the tree. Then rest."  
Stormrider awkwardly supported her as she limped to the tree. Once under it, she lay down again. She was too exhausted to do anything else.

Stormrider

Frost looked terrible. She was coated in blood, and most of it wasn't MudWing blood. Her teeth, talons, and tail were stained red, but her right wing was slathered in her own purple blood, as was her neck. He couldn't even imagine how much pain she must be in. "Will that heal?" he asked. "I mean, does your wing and leg need a doctor? Because it looks like it."  
"My leg is, I think, broken. My wing, I don't know," she managed to say. "Just a splint for the leg, and then no movement for ages...."   
"And your wing?"  
Frost twitched her wing, wincing at the pain it caused. "I think if I clean it, then you can look at it and tell me what you see. I can't think further than that." At that, she rested her head on the ground and closed her eyes.  
Storm was on his own.


	7. I ship it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, I do!
> 
> Another chapter.
> 
> Anyone know how to do italics?

Stormrider

Frost was recovering. Slowly. She had slept, and he had hunted. When she woke, he washed out her wound, and she informed him that as long as she didn't use the muscle, then it would heal. Following her instructions, he had splinted her leg and bound her wing to her body. The next few days had passed slowly, but fast at the same time. Every day was the same. Frost slept late, while he hunted for the two of them. The marshes, while not quite the mountain territory he was most familiar with, was easy enough for him to hunt in, and he wasn't particularly stretched in the food department. After eating, he then fetched water for Frost, and drunk some for himself, before making another trip to the river for extra water to wash her wounds. Frost herself had not moved from under her tree, at his insistence, as she needed to rest and heal, which did not include moving. They were safe enough for now, and although they would have to move at some point, they would simply deal with that when the time came. Most of the time, they simply talked and rested. Stormrider would tell Frost about growing up with the Talons and his life with them, and in return she would tell him about the Ice Kingdom and her life there. They actually had more in common than they had first assumed, thought Stormrider as he lay on the opposite side of the tree to Frost, as they were both outcasts in their respective societies. Her because of her father, and him because he had grown up parentless, and thus would almost certainly always be on the outskirts. Once you got to know her, Frost was surprisingly good company, and, he admitted to himself, he had grown to care for her. The Talons seemed to be somehow further away now, a thing for the future. Storm still wanted to find them, but now he wanted to find them like he wanted the war to end, a wistful hoping, and one far away.  
"I guess it will be a while before we find the Talons," he mused aloud.  
"I'm going nowhere until my wing heals. You could search on your own if you wanted," Frost replied quietly.   
"And leave you here to starve to death, injure your wing irreparably, or get killed by MudWings? I think not," replied Storm. "Me flying off leaves you dead, and that's not happening any day soon if I have any say in the matter.  
"Nice of you," commented Frost, shifting her head on her claws to face him. "I'm not entirely sure I would do the same thing."

Frost

"As in.....?" he queried.  
"I guess what I mean is that I generally look out for my own interests more than others. I don't really..... care I guess. I've never actually had the opportunity to. I love my mother, and I'm grateful for all she's done for me, but I've never cared for anyone except her." Until now she added silently. She didn't know how to phrase how she felt about other dragons without offending him or sounding mean. Her entire emotional state was something she typically ignored, but now.... she didn't want to drive away the only dragon that had actually cared about her since her mother. Oh, Queen Glacier was interested in her wellbeing, but she didn't actually care. Stormrider hadn't abandoned her, and she had to admit he was a lot more useful than he had first seemed. He was just slightly..... naïve? Less pessimistic? He certainly had more hope than her. The Ice Kingdom was cold, and the dragons that lived there colder. Stormrider wasn't.   
"I mean, if you were the injured one instead of me, I wouldn't let you die," she added hastily. Trying to lighten the mood she continued, "we haven't found the Talons yet after all,"   
"No, we haven't," he replied. "Once you get better we can set out again."  
Stormrider seemed less enthusiastic about it than he had been. Why was that? She'd have to find out. "Yes, and hopefully we'll find them soon," she added.  
"Well, maybe not soon," he replied. There it was again. Reluctance.  
"Why?" asked Frost.  
"Well, we've travelled far together, and I think I'm going to find saying goodbye harder than I previously thought," he answered.  
Frost was speechless. She mentally poked the feeling rising in her chest. Gratitude? Happiness? She couldn't tell. "That's, er....... nice," she floundered. "You have been.... you are..... a friend? I guess? I don't have any others of those."  
"So maybe, once we get going again, we can just fly really, really slowly?" he joked.  
She grinned at him. "It's a plan."


	8. The author runs out of witty chapter titles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> not that they were funny in the first place

~les time skip as per usual~

Frost

Frost didn't know what to do. It was a novel experience. She had always known what was best for her. Kill the dragon, serve the Queen. But now? With Stormrider? He had undoubtedly saved her life. She saw that as a debt she had to repay, but she didn't know how. There were so many things she didn't know. Did the fact that they were friends cancel out things such as life debts? Did Stormrider regard what he had done for her as a life debt? Did he even realise that he had saved her life by staying by her and taking care of her? Knowing him, he would probably see it as a duty. Frost didn't know whether she liked that about him. Right. Her feelings. Another thing she was confused over. She liked Stormrider. Was that 'like' the same as the 'like' some of the other IceWings had been obsessed over? Frost had a sneaking suspicion she knew what they were talking about. She honestly wished she didn't.

Her wing was almost healed, which was good, and her leg was slowly recovering. Stormrider had continued to be attentive in his hunting and water carrying. Frost was pleased with how well her recovery was going, but that didn't help the fact that she was bored out of her mind. She and Stormrider had gone through every story they knew and every experience they had ever had, she had done everything she could think of to alleviate her boredom, but she was still so, so, bored.

Stormrider landed beside her. "I brought some food," he said, dropping a deer in front of her. Frost lazily stretched her neck out towards it, and slowly began to eat.   
When she had finished, Stormrider set the bones on fire and sat down beside her. "How are you?" he asked.   
"Physically, healing as well as one could possibly expect, mentally, bored out of my mind," replied Frost.   
"We could tell stories again," he suggested   
"Come on Stormrider, we've both told every story we've ever heard and we both know that,"  
"Call me Storm, Stormrider's a bit of a mouthful,"  
"Fine then..... Storm, I don't know what to do. I'm bored of waiting for my wing and leg to heal and I've already heard every embarrassing incident that's ever happened to you. What are we supposed to do now?"  
"To tell you the truth, I was wondering the same thing. I don't like swamps anymore, but you can't move anywhere else, and I'm not strong enough to carry you. I think we just have to stay here. It's almost night now, so let's sleep and think more tomorrow," advised Storm.   
Frost yawned. "You're right. Tomorrow's another day, and we can worry then."  
She curled her legs in closer to her body and rested her head on the ground. As she closed her eyes, she felt Stormrider's wing softly cover her. She shifted to accommodate it, and fell asleep.


	9. Is it a monster? Is it a ghost? No, it's a fossilising NightWing!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Frost is really sensitive to animus magic

~les larger time skippy skip than usual~

Stormrider

It took 5 weeks for Frost to recover. 5 weeks that were simultaneously the most boring and happiest weeks of his life so far. Frost was a good friend, and since recovering she had insisted on hunting all the meals to make up for when he had hunted for her, which was nice but slightly confusing.

Actually, Storm thought, confusing was the best way to describe his current state of existence. For a start, he had a rather large crush on Frost, which instantly rocketed his current situation to previously unknown levels of complicated. Then there was also the matter of them being friends but totally on the opposite sides of the war and what was happening there? And that was without considering the problem they'd face once they found the Talons. Frost wasn't about to join him there anytime soon, as she'd probably have legions of assassins sent after her once she joined. Heck, as far as he knew Queen Glacier could already have sent assassins after her. When Stormrider mentioned this to Frost, she dismissed it as unlikely, given her reputation for loyalty, but that didn't mean he couldn't worry.  
"Stop scowling, Storm," said Frost. "You look as if the entirety of Pyrrhia's dumped it's problems on you,"  
Storm shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. "Well, I do have plenty of reasons to be worried,"  
"Actually, you don't, because I'm here to do the worrying for you," replied Frost with a grin.   
"But there's so much that could go wrong!"  
"Such as?"  
"Queen Glacier sending assassins after you, getting attacked by.... er...... RainWings- no, that's stupid, but getting attacked, you getting hurt again, me getting hurt, anything really," answered Stormrider.   
"I don't recall you being this paranoid before I was injured,"  
"I guess I thought that.... somehow.... because you could fight you couldn't be injured and that everything would work out perfectly."  
"I mean, I know that's stupid now," he added hastily. "But still,"  
"I guess having a bunch of illusions shattered could have that effect, but we're nearing Jade Mountain, which, as you know, is practically no one's territory so maybe relax a bit, Storm," Frost told him. "We could investigate that dragon rumour that you told me about,"  
"Dragon rumour?"  
"You know, the one about the dragon in Jade Mountain,"  
"Oh! Yeah. That would be fun."  
Frost smiled and flew faster. "Let's try to be there by tonight," she said.

A/N I'd love to finish here, but that would make the chapter too short, so let's go on.

It was sunset by the time they reached Jade Mountain.   
Frost and Storm swooped into one of the caves and walked down the tunnels until they found a suitable cavern.   
"Now this is what I call a nice cave!" said Frost.   
Stormrider looked round. It did seem rather nice. The cavern was spacious and open to the air on one side, which was covered in vegetation, and had the added bonus of a small rivulet of water flowing through. "I see what you mean," he answered. "This is much better than the cliff. How about we try to find the dragon?"   
"If that's what it takes to cheer you up," said Frost, before sprinting out of the cave and down a corridor.  
"Wait for me!" called Stormrider, before dashing after her. He eventually found her crouching beside a tunnel, listening to something. "What's up?" he whispered, crouching down beside her.  
"Sky, clouds, birds, dragon or two," she replied. "But besides that, I can hear breathing. Let's see who it is."  
He and Frost crept down the corridor, shooting furtive glances at each other, and trying to to laugh. At the end of the corridor, Storm could hear the breathing as well. They walked onward and out into a small cave. In the corner, there was an old-looking NightWing, fast asleep.   
"Is he- it looks like he's-" managed Stormrider.   
"Covered in stone? I didn't expect that," finished Frost. "What the heck is a NightWing doing here?"  
"Fossilising, by the looks of it," replied Storm.   
At the sound of their voices, the NightWing stirred. "Hello," he said.   
Frost peered at the NightWing. "Is this really the best cave to fossilise in?" she asked.   
He blinked slowly. "I don't know. It's where I am." The NightWing seemed to be trying to use as little energy as possible for anything. It was a little disconcerting. Even his mouth only hinged open tiny amounts for him to speak. "Can we leave a message for the Talons with you?" asked Stormrider.   
"I don't see how I can stop you," replied the NightWing. "After all....-" he snorted, "- it is not like I'm going anywhere.   
"Okay," Storm replied. "Can you tell them that Stormrider has escaped and is trying to find them?"  
"If they come here, I will tell them," promised the NightWing.   
"Right! Storm, let's leave the NightWing to turn to stone in peace," interrupted Frost. "It's been nice meeting you and everything, but bye!"   
The NightWing blinked. "Goodbye?" he said, before Frost dragged Storm out of the cave.

Frost shuddered. "Can we not go in there again? I don't know, but something about him just seems.... off,"  
"Probably the part where he's turning to stone," added Storm helpfully.   
Frost shook her head. "No, that's just sad. Something else. It- it's like a warping in the world, if you know what I mean. Like, something about the world's been changed but not in a good way, if you understand what I mean,"  
Storm looked puzzled. "No?"  
"Never mind. Let's just not go there again,"  
"Agreed. Personally, he's rather creepy."

Stormrider and Frost returned to the cave, and Frost immediately left to hunt.


	10. Stone, stars, and three moons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What to put here? Idk. I'm new to all this website

Stormrider

Frost soon returned with two goats.   
"The hunting is actually excellent round here. You can't fly without something edible colliding into your talons," she called out as she landed back in the cave.   
"I'm sure that's not really the case," replied Stormrider.   
"It's a metaphor narwhal-brain!"  
"What's a narwhal?"  
"Like a small whale with a spike on it's head. Not known for it's intelligence," Frost answered snappily.   
"What happened while hunting?" asked Storm. "Earlier you were nice let's- hunt- mystery- dragons, but now it's back to Stormrider- can't- pour- water- out- a- bucket- unless- there's- instructions- on- the- handle again,"  
"Nothing happened. I just... I don't know... that NightWing rattled me a bit and... never mind." Frost picked up her goat and started dragging it out of the cave. "I'm going somewhere else."  
Stormrider watched as she walked away.

Frost

She didn't know why she was snappy. That half stone thing- that- had- been- a- dragon had scared her like nothing else. Something long buried deep inside her screamed at her to avoid him, and if she couldn't, kill him. Her conscious mind knew she shouldn't, he was weak, defenceless and very probably cursed. Her conscious mind pitied him. He unconscious disagreed. Frost had never experienced such war inside herself before.

She shivered, and relaxed her wings. Grey flooded them. Grey, with disturbing hints of black, but tinged with rosy love- pink. At least she had no doubts about what was causing the pink. Stormrider was... everything to her. She knew that eventually she would have to leave him and her feelings for him behind, but that only made her treasure each moment more. Frost sighed in wry self pity. 'I sound like a romantic' she thought to herself. Curling up in the corridor, she hastily ate the goat, before heading down the tunnel to face that which she suspected was the heart of her problem.

Cautiously, Frost crept down the passage leading to the stone dragon's cave. As before, she heard his breathing long before she saw him. She snuck in. The dragon was lying unmoving with its eyes closed.   
"What do you want?" The whisper floated through the air. Frost froze. The stone dragon opened his eyes slightly. "What do you want?" He repeated.   
Frost gathered her courage. "Why are you... trapped here? Are you even trapped? That's what I want to know," she said.   
"I am cursed," the stone dragon replied with a slightly melodramatic sigh. "Cursed to remain here until I die or become fully encased in stone,"  
"Then you'll die."  
"Sorry?"  
"You said you'll stay until you die or you become stone. Surely when you become stone you'll die?"  
"Yes. Yes I will. A tragic end."  
"Maybe." Frost didn't know what to think. The NightWing seemed harmless enough, but her instincts still recoiled from his very existence. A thought occurred to her. "Why are you turning to stone?" she asked.   
The stone dragon lifted his head an inch from his claws. "The Talons aren't normally this nosey," he said, with a touch of rebuke.   
"My question still stands."  
"I was cursed from my birth," began the NightWing. "Cursed with talons that moved things beyond the bounds of nature. It took its toll on my soul, and it stole everything. My home, my family, my true love. Eventually, I turned my curse against my scales instead of my soul, and exiled myself here."  
His explanation was brief, and lacking in detail, but Frost could still guess what he was talking about. "You're an animus aren't you?" she accused him.   
"Yes. Yes I am," he whispered. "It stole everything." Suddenly, the stone animus jerked his head up. "Don't tell them! They'll make me do things again!" he pleaded. "I don't want that! Don't tell them, please!"  
Frost rolled her eyes. She was still apprehensive, but this dragon was going nowhere. And most importantly, he was doing nothing. "Fine. I promise not tell anyone that you're an animus," she declared. "Besides," she added. "I personally don't want any of the Queens to get their claws in an animus. Queen Glacier would be best, but look what happened with Artic. No, I think it's best that any animi remain out of the queens' reach. I don't want any enchanted spears after Blaze!" She tried to make light of the situation, but the joke fell flat. Maybe the NightWing didn't have any sense of humour beyond melodrama. "Bye," she lamely stated, and walked out of the cave. Frost headed up toward the outside for some fresh air. She considered what the NightWing had told her. An animus. That was interesting. She'd thought that they had died out with the Darkstalker. But the Darkstalker had had a sister, did he not? What's- her- name... White something? Whiteout! That was it. And Whiteout had married a NightWing. So maybe this NightWing was descended from her, with his magic passed on from Prince Arctic. That would cover the facts. Animus magic.... Frost let herself dwell of the thought. If Queen Scarlet or Blister ever got something like that... she didn't even what to imagine what horrors would be unleashed. Luckily, this one was still sane. Hopefully. If his magic worked.

She curled up at the entrance of the cave, staring out at the stars and the three moons. Two of them were full tonight. The third was merely a crescent- shaped sliver of light. The brightest night had been about a year or two. It was exiting to think that they were alive right now, out there somewhere. Hopefully in the care of the Talons, or, as much as she and the entire rest of the IceWing tribe hated them, the NightWings. They would at least take good care of the prophecy dragonets, even if they weren't so cordial to any IceWings that crossed their path. Or hybrids. Frost suspected they didn't much like hybrids either.   
With a sigh, she got to her feet and headed back to Stormrider.

Stormrider

An hour or two had passed before Frost came back in. When she arrived, she looked peaceful enough, if slightly tired. Knowing her, she could be in a fuming rage and he wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Storm thought he was good at sensing her emotions, but she was rather hard to read. Her wings showed much more than her face did. A light, calming blue with small tendrils of grey curling and twisting in the centre, and a pink haze around the edges. Frost had taken to letting her wings turn whatever colour they liked, but in any confrontation, she usually snapped them back to white. He supposed that the fact that her colours were showing meant that she wasn't annoyed at him anymore.   
"Hi," he greeted her.   
"Hello," she replied softly.   
"Happy again?" he tentatively inquired.   
"I guess."  
He nodded.   
Frost lay down a short distance away from him, and quickly fell asleep. Stormrider waited until her breathing had slowed completely before shuffling a couple of inches closer, and closing his eyes.


	11. The entire story is actually Frostrider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> izdjndjefiefli
> 
> this is a short one.

Stormrider

The sun crept over the horizon and into Stormrider's eyes. Blinking, he sat up. A short distance away, Frost was still sleeping, his shadow shading her from the morning glare. Her white scales reflected the light and scattered rainbows around the cave. Sunset pink was spilling over her wings, and in the dawn's light Storm couldn't help but notice that she was extremely beautiful. Or maybe that was just him. "I love you," he tried, just to see how the words sounded. It was true though. Over the past couple of months he had doing himself falling for Frost. She was actually very kind, in her own peculiar way.   
"Do you mean that?" she asked, sitting bolt upright, completely awake.   
"Um... er..." floundered Stormrider, increasingly flustered. "I mean... um... yes?"  
Frost smiled. "I would be extremely sad if you died. Life is so much better with you around. I love you too. Gosh, this is like a bad romance scroll," Frost said.   
(Authorly panic as I desperately rush to save my precious fourth wall)  
"I..." fumbled Storm  
"I'm glad we got that sorted out. The romantic tension was killing me,"  
"Er... yes, me too,"  
"You're an idiot Storm. Be happy you're a lovable idiot."  
(Sighs of authorly relief)


	12. There's a plot as well!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *hums*
> 
> short. so short. I'm sorry.

Stormrider I guess.

The three days that followed were easily the happiest days of his life so far.

That changed the day they spotted the Talons. They were moving camp, flying away. At that distance, Frost would never be able to catch up to them. But Storm might. It was them. There was no doubt about it. What other group had SeaWings and SkyWings flying together?   
"Well Storm, I guess this is it," said Frost with a weary sigh.   
"I suppose it is. I love you, Frost. Are you sure there's no way we can survive together?" he asked desperately.   
"No. I can blend in as an IceWing, but you... no, the Talons is the only place you'll be safe and stay safe,"  
Silence reigned for a few seconds. Then Frost turned to him. "Listen Storm. Stay alive. Please. When the war ends, come and find me. I'll be looking for you. Until then, be happy and stay alive. I'll do the same. After the war, look for me."  
His throats choked with emotion, Stormrider nodded his assent, and flew to rejoin the Talons.   
Frost watched him go.   
She hoped that someday, when the tribes found peace, they would meet again.


	13. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> self-explanatory.

In a cave, in a mountain, in the depths of the Claws of the Clouds mountains, a dragonet named Silver woke up. She opened her eyes. Darkness. Unsurprising, in a cave. 

Standing up, she stretched her wings and felt for the walls around her. Silver didn't know what the time was, but her mother would be happy to see her anyway. Following her memory, she trailed the edge of one wing along the wall as she quietly padded out to her mother's cave. A short distance along the corridor, she turned into a cave slightly larger than her own. This cave was brighter, a gentle shaft of sunlight beamed down on her mother. Silver calmly sat down beside her mother, and hovered her talons above her mother's outstretched wing. It was yellow today, with drifts of pale blue and grey. Happiness, remembered Silver. Calmness and sadness. Silver didn't like seeing her mother sad. The grey rolled in like storm clouds, and all the happy yellows and peaceful blues went away. She hoped that wouldn't happen today. Silver's mother shifted in her sleep, and Silver's claws froze above the twisting tendril of grey she had been idly tracing. Her mother shifted again, and the yellow vanished from her wings. Drifts of red swept in, and flashes of black swirled in between a terrible acidic green. The tendrils of grey multiplied and swarmed the edges of her wings, and Silver's mother's serrated talons curled and uncurled, reaching towards an unknown enemy.

"Wake up!" hissed Silver.   
Her mother curled up into herself and her talons reached out again. "Mum! Wake up!" Silver hissed again, this time with more urgency.   
Her mother didn't respond.   
Gathering her courage, Silver reached out and shook her mother's shoulder.   
Frost started, and opened her eyes.   
"Hello Silver," she said.   
"Hi Mum. It's morning," Silver replied. "You were having a bad dream, so I woke you up."  
"Thank you, Silver," her mother replied, and a wash of pink love flowed down her wings. "Do you want breakfast? I know I do."  
"That would be nice," answered Silver, bounding to her feet. "Do we have any berries left? I like berries,"  
"I'm sure we'll find something," Frost said, gracefully getting to her feet. "If there aren't any berries, I do have some apples, and I could always catch a rabbit,"  
Silver ran out into their front cave and stared out into the dawn. Her mother, Frost, joined her. "Beautiful, isn't it," she said. Silver could only nod in agreement as she stared out at the sweeping mountains, the snow- capped peaks of which sliced into the sky. The wind flowed smoothly through the giants of rock and stone, and the stark blue sky was bruised with the light of the sun. To Silver, it seemed as if the entire Pyrrhia was calling for her to spread her metallic wings and soar into the cloudless sky. The familiar touch of her mother's rainbow wings wrapped around her shoulders, as breakfast forgotten, mother and daughter watched the world go by.


End file.
